Review: Silhouette 9-16 Feb 2014

[FrancescaH]

Intro

 

We are a family of three. We are experienced cruisers with the Royal Caribbean line, ten sailings for the adults and seven for our nine year old. I am in a powerchair for a physical disability I've had since birth while my son is somewhere on the ADHD/Asperger's end of the autism spectrum. We cruise much more for the ship than the stops due to my mobility issues.

 

I had wanted to try Celebrity for years and finally talked my husband into it. We were able to take advantage of a 1-2-3 Go deal, which we enjoyed as we are not heavy drinkers but enjoyed a glass of wine or two with dinner.

 

Pre-cruise hotel

 

We stayed at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port on 17th Street. We loved the location and overall experience, but as an older hotel it was a bit behind on accessible bathrooms in the rooms. The bathroom was quite small on the accessible scale and the toilet was quite low. We had a lovely view of the Silhouette from the 12th floor elevator bank window as we went down for breakfast.

 

Embarkation

 

As is the case for most ports, there is a specific entrance for wheelchairs that avoid the lines. It is at the rear of all the standard lines. We quickly got through the scanner for my guys and the pat down for myself. We were quickly checked in. If you are familiar with this terminal, you know the steepness of the gangway. For this reason, they allow wheelchairs to board from deck two. Unfortunately they said minors were not allowed to board that way. We were separated before we could get the Welcome Aboard photo. While this may be a minor issue, we pre-buy the photo package so it's a bit sad to lose that opportunity as a family. I boarded quickly and waited on deck ten for my guys as they waded through the line of passengers boarding. Cabins were opened a bit late around 1:30.

 

Cabin

 

We were in Concierge Wheelchair Accessible 1028. It was a decent size for the three of us but we felt the loss of all the storage in the RCCL Freedom class accessible junior suites. I did far prefer the ramp onto our balcony, the auto door into our cabin, and the use of space in the bathroom compared to our past experience. Our cabin attendant Martin was certainly present but did not impress me. Past attendants certainly put in more of an effort to make sure our wine had ice, and make sure we had all we need.

 

One odd story to share.. I designed a couple of magnets for our door. I designed an Olympic magnet to share our support for the USA team. The other was a Valentine's Day themed one and included a quick marker sketch I did of my family cut into a scalloped heart placed over Valentines paper. I thought the Olympic one might take a hike but was okay with that. It never left, but on Friday night our personal keepsake one disappeared from our door. My husband realized it as we left for breakfast. After breakfast, we split up and checked both halls on our deck with no luck. We reported it to guest services in case a passenger turned it in as I suspected it was a prank and just moved. Later that day we found it on the floor in front of our door partially rolled like someone was going to take it home but had second thoughts so returned it. The whole thing was quite strange.

 

Dining

 

As a wheelchair user, you can imagine how hard some tables are to get to in the dining room. We attempted to prevent this issue with a call in to the Special Needs desk a week out to make sure I could easily reach our table. They tried to place us at an accessible table, but unless you've done time in a chair you usually don't get it. We had to wait in line to be reassigned a table. We ended up in two merged tables for two next to a first time cruising older couple who had the same issue. She was a retired teacher and had grand kids so enjoyed conversing with our son.

 

The food quality felt on par with our experience in the dining room on RCCL. There were a few more interesting choices, but we did not consider it remarkably different. The desserts actually felt lacking compared to RCCL.

 

We did think the Oceanview Cafe food was of a higher quality than RCCL's buffet. I enjoyed the many options including stations to custom have stir fry or pasta dishes. The ice cream was quite good with an appealing option daily. We also appreciated how much easier it was to find a nice table, including outside, to have our meals.

 

The area in which Celebrity shines in comparison would be the specialty dining. We enjoyed the Bistro on Five for a breakfast and lunch. Our special hangout spot was the Cafe al Bacio. The coffee and both hot or cold teas were a great way for my husband and I to just sit and talk. The little sweet munchies to accompany our drinks didn't hurt. The 1-2-3 deal made it simple. Our favorite there was Milca who was always quick to get our order and greeted us as Ms. Francesca and Mr. David by week end.

 

I had read here on Cruise Critic how great the Lawn Club Grill was for kids so we pre-booked it. Our son was really looking forward to it as I told him about the pizzas. He loves Hawaiian pizzas, but the necessary ingredients weren't part of the salad bar. So did we get something else? No, they actually sent downstairs to get the ham and pineapple. The chef let our son work the dough and build the pizza. I beamed as any mother would watching their son really enjoy a new experience. He kept repeating "This is awesome!" The pizza really was quite good. The waiter and chef later approached our table as we finished the pizza to ask him if he wanted to help with the entrees. He was so excited he started to jump up so they reassured him they would get him after he finished his pizza. My ribeye was quite tasty as was the shrimp and scallop skewer. Our waiter Corsino even ordered up an extra two skewers for my husband and I to share. We all ordered the cookie for dessert plus a slice of cheesecake to share. The cookie was far better but so rich my husband finished mine. At the end of the evening, they sent us on our way full and happy with our son's Lawn Club Grill apron in tow. The next morning I wrote a note to the Food and Beverage Manager to make sure he knew how much we, especially my son, enjoyed it. On Saturday he sent us some chocolate strawberries in our cabin to say thank you. As we were walking by him on deck five getting ready to depart Sunday morning, he actually approached me by name to thank me again for writing the note. I found that very impressive.

 

Entertainment

 

This cruise was not so much about the entertainment for us. We were there to enjoy the peace and quiet away from everyday life. We did enjoy the guitarist playing on the Lawn as we finished dinner at the Grill. The Smart Casuals played nightly in the Atrium area so it was pleasant background music to our nightly outings to Cafe al Bacio. We enjoyed the Broadway style production, but the cirque style shows are not our cup of tea.

 

We did not attend many of the evening events but we did enjoy the Battle of the Sexes on Valentine's Day.

 

As for day activities, we had a couple of occasions where staff never showed to host both poolside and up on the lawn. This could be improved, but we enjoyed the overall slower pace.

 

Fun Factory

 

I was quite sure I would enjoy Celebrity, but I was concerned about my son. He's not the typical kid though so we went into it with an open mind. There were 62 minors on board, and only a handful of kids attended the Ensigns in Fun Factory. We were pleased to find they are much more hands on in activities. They built little robots, and tried to encase an egg to be dropped a deck with best results earning more Fun Factory bucks. On RCCL, I think the counselors fell back on their Dreamworks partnership too often and kids watched movies. We took advantage of the VIP Pass which got him a bag of goodies, plus tours of the bridge and theater. We enjoyed not having to worry about extra costs past 10PM or when we let him do lunch with the program. On RCCL they had maybe one give away but on this trip it felt like the staff was looking for excuses to shower the kids with stuff like little stuffed Stellas (their mascot), beach towels, beach balls, fabric frisbee discs, etc.. My son actually skipped dessert all week at dinner to ensure he got there on time to not miss a thing.

 

The iLounge

 

We took advantage of our free minutes as a RCCL Diamond recognition to Elite. We found the access faster than on RCCL. We had some extended family issues going on back on land so it was nice to stay in the loop. The only negative was when my iPad lucked into the rogue IP address that left me out till we finally got the iLounge guys working on it.

 

Debarkation

 

It was remarkably smooth compared to our experience on the Liberty of the Seas a year ago. Within an hour of leaving our cabin, we were in our car and on our way home. The only difficulty was the few porters to help with our too massive collection of bags to get through customs.

 

Conclusion

 

I was sold very quickly on the Celebrity style of cruising. My husband also was won over. We really only saw our son at meals and bedtime based on his choosing to be in the Fun Factory so it was a win there. We were scheduled to do the Independence of the Seas next year but went ahead booked the Silhouette for an eastern run next year instead. We were impressed by the presence of management everywhere on board. It was a pleasant surprise. They actually seemed to care more about the passengers than we were used to.

[Bery]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us. I felt like I was there with you. Your description of the fun time your son experienced is a real tribute to the Celebrity crew. Your recognition of great crew members in writing is the kind of behavior we can all emulate.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[SkystheLimit]

Thank you for the review. Sounds like a great vacation for the entire family.

 

Did you do any excursions?

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Great review... which ports did you go to?

 

Do you have the papers with activities they offered? I would love to see some to have an idea on what to look for when I go in Nov.

 

Thanks,

Meg